Underwater
by we share the night
Summary: Merlin accidentally awakens a being who has been asleep beneath the lake for centuries. She is out for Pendragon blood, and he must find a way to rid Camelot of her before she carries out her revenge and destroys them all.
1. Chapter 1

Lugging part of Arthur's suit of armour, Merlin made his way down the seemingly endless corridor of the castle, regrettably noticing that he was leaving tracks in the rich crimson carpet beneath his feet. The servants who already had enough to do would be the ones to clean the stains he created. The entire castle became dirty enough through those knights of Camelot, who had an incredible prowess with their swords but became clueless when it came to picking up their own dirty laundry off their chamber's floors. At least this way, though, Merlin had a place in the castle. The day that Arthur learned not to be a complete slob was the day that he was out of a job.

Halfway down the corridor, Merlin stopped and leaned against a tapestry on the wall to regain some strength. He couldn't understand how Arthur ever moved so swiftly while wearing armour; it was like strapping a sandbag to different parts of your body. Armour hindered movement, was bulky and cumbersome and worst of all, Merlin had to clean it. Regularly. And Heaven forbid he miss a spot because there was no way Arthur would even consider being seen in anything less than spotless armour. He studied the tapestry on the wall to get his mind away from his chores, as there were plenty he still had to do and it was nearly four in the afternoon already. The woven picture had warm, golden colours and there stood horses. _Horses_. Merlin remembered yet another chore he had yet to perform: feeding the Prince's many horses. How many steeds did one man need, for goodness sake? Apparently one for jousting, one for leisure, one for hunting…

Prat.

Merlin leaned against the wall and slowly crouched into a sitting position. He was considering just using magic to complete the day's work when something rather uncomfortable poked into his back, distracted him. It was impossible to concentrate when there was _something_ jutting straight into him. He whirled around to face the wall and then was confused. Tapestries were flat. They didn't have bumpy bits. Curiously, he lifted the corner and found a knob. Come to think of it, it rather resembled a doorknob. But what was a doorknob doing under fabric and a foot above the ground?

Glancing about to check that no one was watching, he lay down flat on the ground and crawled through the small opening. He instantly found himself inside a small room, which was unlit and black. He turned around and scrabbled on the wall for the way out but his hands met nothing but a dusty wall. Merlin panicked and stood up, feeling his way around the space, flinching every time his fingers met a solid object. He gave up trying to see through the darkness and closed his eyes, murmuring a spell.

Instantly, every corner of the room was bathed in a gentle light, and Merlin could see where he had ended up. There were shelves, and boxes stacked everywhere. If the dust build-up was anything to judge by, no one had entered this room in decades. But this room had been used quite a lot: there were hardened pools of wax that were once the candles people had used to light their way as they stored things here.

Merlin considered going straight to Gaius and showing him the room, but most likely Gaius would forbid him from ever entering the room again. He could hear his voice already, saying in his calm baritone, "Don't poke your nose where it's not wanted, Merlin. Don't you have chores to do anyway?" Well, Gaius would have assumed he'd done his work already. So he'd have a look around and then go and polish Arthur's armour. He couldn't see a problem with that.

He lifted several flimsy boxes off a wooden crate and began fossicking through it. The instant he plunged his hand inside, he immediately pulled it out. "Ow!" He'd been _bitten_ by something. "How the hell does anything live here?" he muttered angrily as he held his hand up to the light and saw two small puncture marks. It was probably a rouge spider. To avoid further unpleasant surprises, Merlin tipped the crate over and cautiously looked through its contents. There was a wide assortment of things: a beautifully carved mirror whose reflective surface was pitch black; a small wooden container of bright beads that wouldn't leave their box even though Merlin tipped it upside down; a broken staff split cleanly into two; a crystal orb that was a deep azure blue.

It was so perfect, Merlin lifted it up to marvel at it. Its facets caught the light and it glittered in his palm. He couldn't begin to wonder what an object like this was worth. Wrapping it in a cloth he found on a shelf, he pocketed it and crawled out the same way he came in. He hoped he hadn't spent too much time in the secret room. He emerged in the corridor, and noticed that the armour was gone but Arthur was storming down the hallway. Merlin instinctively turned to run in the opposite direction but the prince deftly caught him. "You!" Arthur exclaimed accusingly. "Where's my armour, you useless twit?"

Arthur had him in his strong grip. Merlin squirmed, trying to think of a good excuse. "I, uh, I've left it in the armoury."

"But I need it!" Looking him down, Arthur relinquished his hold on Merlin with an expression of disgust. "Actually, it's better that you don't handle it with your filthy hands. Where have _you_ been?"

Merlin noticed the dust and grime coating over his clothes and on his hands with a grimace. "Cleaning under your bed," he replied with a hidden smirk. "You know what it's like under there."

"Urgh, just take the rest of the day off and go take a bath. Or jump in the lake, I don't care, just get clean! And don't even think about coming into my chambers like that." Arthur held his nose. Merlin sniffed his shirt experimentally and retched. Whatever had been in there had evidently got all over him. Fantastic. He tried to dust off the red cloth but only succeeded in smudging it.

"Fine, I suppose. But you'd better take a bath too."

"Why?"

"Because you don't want to go into your chambers smelling like you do. Someone might die. Sire. " Merlin ran off, and Arthur tripped over his own feet trying to catch him this time.

"Oi! Get back here!" Arthur howled and Merlin laughed. He rarely got the better of Arthur, especially since he could never outrun him or best him in a fight. Sometimes he did outwit him but outwitting Arthur always meant a friendly whack on the head afterwards and Merlin liked to protect his most valuable skill. Without his magic he was just your average male. Well. Maybe even less than that. Arthur was definitely above average. And speaking of Arthur, no doubt he would be cooking up some horrible revenge plot. Last time he had bested Arthur, Merlin had woken with ants swarming over his head, anxious to get at the honey _someone_ had rubbed into his hair. He still had the tiny marks from the ant bites and the smell of the pungent balm Gaius had applied to get rid of the sting was still fresh in his head.

Merlin ran down to the lake, and began to remove his shirt. He heard the giggling and whipped around to find two servant girls doing their laundry by the same place. Blushing furiously, Merlin pulled it back over his head. "I'll just get my laundry done now too," he said to himself, as he waded into the water with his clothes on. He felt the cloth cling to his now wet skin enjoyed the water's coolness for a few tranquil seconds before beginning to rub at the dirt and dust stains. In his rush, he had forgotten to steal a bar of soap out of Arthur's closet and he didn't want to ask the servant girls for some; they only used the perfumed kind and the Prince already found enough to tease him about without him smelling like a girl. Stinking slightly was a preferable alternative to femininity. It took far longer than it should have, but eventually, Merlin managed to get rid of the smell off his skin, though he had to remove his shirt to do so because it contributed too much to the strange odour. Water just wouldn't make it go away. Three more girls had come to wash their laundry and their laughter made his face grow tomato-red with embarrassment, especially when they began arguing over him.

"Not much to look at, is he?" the oldest observed wryly, staring at him unashamed.

"I don't care," cried the rather silly red head. "I'll still have him."

"No, _I'll_ have him," asserted her friend with a contemptuous expression. "I'm prettier."

"You must be joking," said the oldest. "If anyone's to have him, it'll be me."

"But you said-"

"Oh, I was only jesting, he's quite alright, actually…"

As they were quarreling amongst themselves, Merlin silently made his way past them, using the trees for cover. He usually never received that kind of attention; it was usually reserved for Arthur. Especially from gorgeous visiting ladies in the court, who had both beauty and wealth. But Arthur never gave them a second look, and he never understood why until now. Because their attentions were just so downright _humiliating_!

On his walk back to the castle, Merlin patted his wet pockets and felt his heart skip a beat when he realised that something was missing. Or, to be more specific, the beautiful orb that he had taken from the secret room. It was gone! Merlin ran back to the lake and dove into it, searching underwater for any hint of something sparkling, but there was nothing but the murky green and blue of the water. His eyes could only make out blurred shapes and it could have been anywhere in the lake; he did not know how deep it was. He hoped that fish didn't swim up inside his shirt. Dejected, he surfaced, glad that he hadn't told anyone about the orb. Otherwise there would have been hell to pay for losing something so precious.

Merlin trudged back to the castle, soaking wet and after he had changed into dry clothes, he lay down in his bed and fell instantly asleep. Meanwhile, outside in the lake something amazing and terrible took place as the sun went down.

* * *

The normally unmoving water of the lake sent out ripples that lapped against the edge of the bank with increasing urgency as something awakened beneath the surface of the lake. No one was around to witness a white hand clutch the bank and another hand following it. Slowly, a woman pulled herself up from the lake, her wet tendrils of hair clinging to her neck and back. She was unclothed, and if not for her eyes, she would have passed uncontested as a mortal woman. However, her eyes were backlit with the glow that was born from magic. She did not smile or soften the cruel look in her otherwise fair face.

The woman touched her face, the final echoes of disbelief leaving her expression, like a dreamer's descent into the word of the awake. She studied her surroundings with a blank expression, taking in castle along with the lake she had emerged from. It did not seem to surprise her that the castle from the days of her childhood still stood there after hundreds of years. She made her way towards the castle with jerking movements, moving as one would expect from a woman who had spent the previous centuries suspended underwater and had forgotten how to walk.

On her way to the castle she stole a simple light blue dress to cover her frame from a woman's abandoned embroidery work. There were loose threads hanging everywhere and it did not fit quite right but she barely noticed as she pulled it over her naked body and wandered around the courtyards. She managed to elude the guards patrolling the castle and slipped inside. As she entered, she was enveloped by warm air and the blazing lamps on the walls which brought heat rising to her cheeks. It reminded her that she was alive again. Silently as she entered, the woman walked through the hallway and opened doors at random.

A woman, and a servant brushing her hair; a man who had retired early for the night and was tossing and turning in his bed; a blonde boy arguing with a dark haired boy…

And just as she had been filled with warmth a few seconds earlier, she was drained of it and filled with cold. She recoiled from the doorway, appalled by what she had seen. _Him_.

Even if she had not recognised the descendant of the old Pendragon king, from centuries ago, she would have still been able to tell. Her blood sang, no, _screamed_, that this was one of _them_ in a long line of bastards.

She knew now what she had been awakened for, what she had to do. The woman closed the door and ran off into the night, preparing for her task. _

* * *

That night, Merlin was dreaming of falling into a vast body of water, and sinking so far down that he could no longer distinguish where the surface was. He was suffocating in an endless pool of blue, and he thrashed about trying to resurface while his lungs screamed for air—

A hand grabbed him on the shoulder and shook him repeatedly, forcing him out of his nightmare. It was a familiar face: the Lady Morgana. He breathed in, not realising he had been holding his breath for the duration of the dream and sat up in his bed. Merlin looked up at Morgana and noted that she appeared upset and shaken. There were dark circles beneath her eyes, and her hair was not in its usual immaculate style; it was messy and it seemed as though she had come from her own chambers to here in a hurry.

"Merlin," she smiled uncertainly, "I'm incredibly sorry to disturb you at this hour."

"No, it's fine, it's not like I was busy or anything," Merlin said awkwardly. They both looked at each other, unsure of who should speak fist. Merlin decided to break the silence after a few moments. "So, can I help you with anything, my lady?"

"I was just wondering if you knew how to make me a sleeping draught? I've been having, well, awful dreams," she confessed. "But don't tell anyone, Merlin. I trust you."

Merlin reluctantly left his bed. "I don't know how to make one, but I know that Gaius has some around here that he told me to give you if you ever asked. Give me a minute to find them."

"I really appreciate this," Morgana thanked him. "I'd give anything to be able to have a dreamless sleep. Some of my dreams. They truly frighten me."

As he rifled through the drawers and cabinets, Merlin couldn't help but wonder what would make her so anxious not to be able to dream. "If you don't mind me asking, what exactly have you been dreaming about?" Morgana grew silent and Merlin began to fear that he'd offended her. He began to babble. "I mean, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I just thought that maybe you'd like to open up to someone but that's just me being tactless, I'm really sorry…"

Morgana looked tearfully at him. "It's not that, Merlin. Only, it's just so terrible, what I see. Because it seems so _real_. It's not like an ordinary nightmare, because I feel as though it will happen, in a few days or weeks, or months. I feel as though I can only see these things, but I cannot stop them. Imagine, Merlin, you see the death of someone you truly love and you are unable to stop it from happening. What do you do?" She laughed bitterly and then grew solemn. "I dreamt about a serpent. Well, a woman. Both. She was a monster. She rose up from the deep within the earth, and buried her dagger into the hearts of two people... They bled and melted into the ground and she became more powerful… It was a terrible dream."

A sense of foreboding stole over Merlin. Morgana had spoken about her dream with conviction, and Gaius had told him long ago that she was a seer. Could Morgana have seen snippets of the future?

As he passed the sleeping draught into her slightly trembling hands, he asked her, "Morgana, before you go, may I ask one more question?" She inclined her head. "Who did the woman kill?" he questioned, knowing the answer before she spoke it.

"One was Arthur's and the other…"

Merlin thought of the Great Dragon's observation and finished her sentence. _Two sides of the same coin_.

"The other was me."

Morgana's lips trembled as she spoke. "I'm scared for you, Merlin."

After Morgana left, Merlin was unable to sleep. Her recollection of the dream continued to reverberate inside his head. A creature, part serpent, part woman. He had never come across such a creature before in experience or in a book, but there was bound to be something written about them. Merlin lit a candle as quietly as he could, because if Gaius knew what he was up to, he would have to reveal Morgana's dream and betray her confidence. He didn't want to do that; Morgana had said she trusted him. He flipped through the book on magical creatures but his research efforts were futile. There was an entire chapter devoted to serpents but nothing about hybrids or half-breeds. Merlin had no trouble imagining such a being though: covered in scales, probably, and having the lower half body of a sea snake. And probably hideous on the whole.

Exhausted from his small search, Merlin slumped over at the table. Here he was, reduced to falling asleep at a table, too tired to return to his bed and already there was one more thing he had to save Arthur –and himself– from. Sometimes magic was a blessing, at other times a curse. Half the demented magical beings out to destroy the Pendragons picked at a fight with him too. And he was just the servant! Some people had no tact.

Unbeknownst to Merlin, he was being watched right that second, by the very same creature he had been trying to find on paper. She was there in flesh and blood.


	2. Chapter 2

In the morning, when Gaius walked into the room, he found Merlin sound asleep over a book. This was indeed an oddity, because Merlin rarely had any time for reading. Pushing Merlin gently off it, he studied the page. A frown formed on his face, and he shook Merlin awake. "Morgana?" Merlin asked sleepily.

"No, it's me, you twit. Why did you think it was Morgana? Oh, never mind. Why are you studying..." Gaius skimmed the page. "Serpents?"

"Gaius!" Merlin exclaimed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes hurriedly.

"What is the meaning of this, Merlin? What are you up to?"

Merlin searched through his archive of excuses for one to give Gaius. "I was looking for a fish. But this is obviously the wrong book, right?"

"Really."

"Oh, yeah, I saw one in a pond the other day," Merlin blathered, shutting the book.

Gaius crossed his arms in a challenging gesture. "I had no idea you were so fascinated by biology. Perhaps we shall have a lesson on it today." Seeing Merlin's panicked expression, he sighed. "Tell me the truth, Merlin. Why are you researching serpents in a book of magic?" When Merlin did not answer he began his tirade. "This is a serious branch of magic, Merlin. There are countless dangers associated with summoning serpents. They are more intelligent than other creatures and will turn against you as soon as they will serve you. Serpents are notoriously difficult to summon and even more difficult to control."

As Gaius paused to take breath, Merlin interrupted. "I was just curious, Gaius. Honestly, I'm not going to go doing anything stupid. Trust me."

"Very well. You must understand how rash you can be sometimes."

"Yes, I understand- Wait! I've never been rash! I've saved Camelot countless times! Do you know what I've been through-"

"Yes, yes, no one doubts your ability Merlin," Gaius said soothingly, albeit sarcastically, as he began his duties for the day. Already there was a young boy and his mother at the door. The boy had gone a most unattractive shade of yellow and his skin was waxy. He had one had clamped over his mouth and Merlin edged towards the door, not wanting to be in the room if the boy was to throw up. He walked backwards into Gaius, who pushed him forwards.

"Oh no, you don't. You're helping me."

An hour later, Merlin was washing his now soiled shirt. He could have sworn that Gaius thought the whole thing was a sick joke. Trust the physician to ruin his Saturday. He was just rinsing out his clothing when he saw something beneath the surface of the water watching him. Merlin jumped back with fright, seeing the exact woman that Morgana had described. Part-woman, part-serpent. He looked back into the water with trepidation, but she was gone. Merlin was sure that Morgana's dream would turn out to be true and this woman had confirmed his fears, launching a feeling of dread in his heart.

Merlin rushed back to Gaius who was measuring out an elixir to cure indigestion, when Merlin threw himself into the room and locked the door behind him. His surprise visit caused Gaius' hand to slip, pouring a large amount of bubbling liquid into the bowl. Almost immediately, the potion began hiss and steam. "Move!" ordered Gaius, and Merlin skirted around to the other side of the table. Gaius took the bowl and tipped the entire contents of it out the window. Then he slammed the window shut, and there was silence for a moment, then a miniature explosion. Blue slime coated the window and Gaius raised an eyebrow at Merlin. "This had better be important."

"Sorry about that, Gaius," Merlin said half-heartedly.

"Never mind," sighed the elderly man, taking a seat opposite Merlin.

"Gaius, I was lying this morning."

"I thought as much. You, Merlin, are a terrible liar," Gaius smiled smugly.

Merlin didn't argue with Gaius, he simply went straight to the point. "But before I tell you what's going on, I need to ask you something. Do you know anything, any legends, any information about…a creature that's half a woman, half a serpent?"

The physician gaped at him as he recognised the description of a legend that he had heard when he was but a boy. "You are speaking of the legend of Melusine," he said slowly, trying to remember the details about the Fay. "Hers is a story that was often told to children when I was one, but is no longer circulated today. It speaks of a girl who was born to a beautiful woman. This woman was strolling through the forests of a kingdom when the king came upon her. He was instantly charmed by her beauty and proposed to her. She agreed but placed a condition on their marriage: that he could never enter her chambers unannounced. He agreed, he would have agreed to almost anything to be wedded to one so fair. But he rushed into the marriage without knowing who his bride actually was. She brought with her a child of twelve years, her daughter from a previous conquest."

"Why couldn't anyone enter her chambers?" wondered Merlin.

Gaius answered his question by continuing the tale. "The king kept his promise for five years. During those five years, he upheld his promise. His son from his late wife also had to heed the same promise, though he thought nothing of it. But one day, the king forgot the agreement he made and entered his wife's chambers while she was bathing. He saw the reason why she would not allow him to come in without warning. She had not wanted him to see her like this. He stormed to her daughter's room and found her in the same state. Publicly, he denounced them both before the court and banished them. For they were both cursed to transform into half a serpent from the waist down every Saturday, it was their ill fortune that the king happened across them on that day."

"So, the woman hated her husband?"

"Quite the opposite actually."

"But he banished her!" Merlin cried out.

"But you're forgetting something," Gaius reminded him. "They had been together for five years. Though he did not love her, only was infatuated by her beauty, she had grown to truly love him. She forgave him for his actions and justified them to her daughter. But her daughter was upset. She had become accustomed to the luxury and splendour of court life and was horrified to learn that she had to return to their previous lonely existence in the forests of the kingdom, rather in a comfortable castle with plenty of girls her own age to socialise with. She returned to the king and begged him to allow them to return to the castle."

"He said no," Merlin guessed, drawing a parallel between the king in the story and Arthur's father. Their egos were too inflated to allow them to even consider something like that.

"Yes. But worse, the king brought forth the people from the kingdom to laugh and mock her. His son joined in with the mob and they tormented her. She was thoroughly humiliated and angered to the point where she lashed out with her magic, torturing both the king and his son. When news of what she had done reached her mother, a great fury engulfed her and she punished her daughter by imprisoning her underwater."

"But she was a magical being. Could she have left the prison?" he asked.

Gaius leaned back in his chair. "Ah, now that is the important part of the story. The mother took the daughter's soul and placed it into a separate crystal orb. Unless the orb was returned to the daughter's body beneath the lake, she would remain there, asleep for all eternity. Incomplete without her soul, Melusine is still asleep today."

Merlin tried out the name. "Melusine. And what would happen if she –Melusine– was awakened?"

"Why, I imagine she would go after her father and half-brother." Gaius eyed him with a steely glare. "But Merlin, why do you ask?"

The young warlock weighed the two options in his head. He could reveal everything to Gaius, and get a good lecture, or keep it a secret for a while longer. But while Gaius was wise and helpful, Merlin doubted he knew what to do in a situation like this. No, this was something he had to figure out on his own, for now. He had caused this problem and he would resolve it. And he still did not know why Melusine was after Arthur as well as himself, as they were not responsible for her fate.

"Never mind," he said quickly and dashed out of the room before Gaius could say a word. He needed to keep an eye on Arthur instead. There were just too many people in the world out to hurt either of them. Merlin sighed and wandered out into the courtyard where Arthur was teaching the knights in training how to spar. The weakest swordsman of all far outclassed him.

Arthur, he had to admit, was a brilliant teacher. Merlin noticed that he worked at a different pace with every one of his knights, and at slightly a higher level than they themselves were at. It was admirable really. When one of his knights fumbled his sword, Arthur patiently waited for his 'opponent' to reclaim his grip and then resumed fighting as usual. Afterwards, he heard Arthur say, "You did well today, but remember, a real enemy won't wait for you. Take some time to practice, I wouldn't want to lose one of my most promising knights on the battlefield because of some slow reflexes." Merlin saw a hint of pride in the knight's eyes and he felt his level of respect for Arthur increase. Though he'd never tell Arthur so of course. His head was big enough.

As Arthur wrapped up his training session then walked over to Merlin. "About time you arrived. I suppose you've been having a lie in while the real men do all the hard work, eh Merlin," he said with a playful punch to Merlin's shoulder. He leaned in close to his ear and whispered, "Don't think I've forgotten about yesterday. I'm still going to get you back." Merlin sighed again, hoping he had indeed forgotten.

"Anyway, I need you to go polish my boots and clean my room, _properly_ this time," Arthur ordered.

"Err, why?"

"What do you mean, _why_?"

"You're just going to go hunting again and get them dirty. Can't you keep them dirty for a couple of days and save me the backbreaking labour?"

"Backbreaking labour! You must be joking. Yesterday, I asked you to polish my armour and you lost it. Guinevere had to bring it back to me, she said she found it lying a corridor. And while I might normally agree with your poor logic, we're receiving a guest and I would rather like to look my best. As opposed to looking like I have an incompetent servant which it seems I do," Arthur ranted. However, the seriousness of his words was neutralised by the smile on his face, which Arthur did not even realise was there.

Merlin sighed for a third time. If he kept carrying on with the sighing, people were going to ask him what tower he'd been locked away in and start calling him 'Princess Merlin'. He shuddered at the prospect as his overactive imagination provided him with images of himself with long flowing hair and in a blue dress. The blue dress clashed with his eyes. Perhaps if he wore a pink gown instead? Merlin realised what he was musing over and was immediately horrified. "What?" he said distractedly, having forgotten everything that Arthur just said. "You want me to polish your armour again?"

Arthur groaned. "No, Merlin, I want you to polish my damn boots! They're under my bed, which you should know as you were supposedly cleaning under there yesterday!"

"Fine, fine," Merlin said.

They stood there watching each other. Arthur sent a confused expression his way. "What?"

"Aren't you going to go?"

"Go where?" Merlin stalled. He did not want to leave Arthur to do some lowly chores and leave the prince susceptible to that woman, Melusine. This was his destiny, and surely that took precedent over cleaning Arthur's shoes?

"Polish. My. Boots!" Arthur yelled. Evidently not. Merlin made his way back to Arthur's chambers, tense and reading to double back at any sign of danger or trouble. Every time he ascended a staircase, he flinched as the floor squeaked beneath him, whenever he closed a door, the resulting creak made him jump. Everything seemed threatening when the threat of death loomed on the horizon. Even Arthur's messy chambers seemed like a threat. There were piles of clothing and bulky pieces of furniture that could be extremely useful for an assassin to hide behind. Merlin felt a wave of guilt; it was, after all, his duty to keep Arthur's chambers clean but he always regarded it as a joke.

So Merlin armed himself with all the necessary tools: a feather duster, laundry basket and mop and bucket, and when he was finished, the room literally shined. He never knew Arthur had quite so much floor space. He also never knew that soup congealed and turned a nasty brown colour when it had been left uncovered in a bowl for weeks on end. He vowed that he would never leave the dishwashing for "the next day" ever again, no matter how tired he was. The room was tidy but Merlin had just been scarred for life.

Swinging the door wide open and striding into his room, Arthur's jaw dropped as he beheld the state of his chambers. They were actually clean. "Merlin… All those things I said earlier, about you being useless. I seemed to be, er. Well," he mumbled, unable admit the fact that he had been mistaken.

"You're welcome." This was probably as close to an apology that Merlin would ever get. He held out a perfectly clean pair of boots to Arthur. "Here are your boots."

"My boots are _black_?" Arthur said in mock-surprise. "Well. Thank you, Merlin."

They stood there awkwardly, considering each other. Merlin almost preferred it when they were arguing and not getting along in a normal master-servant fashion. "Don't you have a guest to greet or something?"

"Oh, right." Arthur sat on the edge of his bed to pull his boots on and then leapt up and began to walk out of the room. He paused at the doorway and looked back at Merlin. "Aren't you coming?" he said and left. Merlin followed eager to seize the chance to keep an eye on Arthur for the evening. Prophecies did always make him edgy. He trailed five steps or so behind Arthur, playing his role perfectly for once. Any new guest would have been uncomfortable watching the easy relationship they had that others believed should have been respectful subservience. But Arthur was too much of a prat for Merlin to ever get along easily with him. Sometimes he thought they were like fire and water, complete opposites.

Speaking of water, he had to start to take special care to keep Arthur away from it. He didn't quite know how, because it would start to get suspicious if he kept encouraging him away from any body of water, but Merlin couldn't risk letting neither serpent nor woman pull the prince under.

As they entered the main room of the castle, the throne room, Merlin took his usual inconspicuous place in the corner. Arthur had a simple gold crown on his head, one that he rarely wore except when the occasion demanded it. There was an unfamiliar face in the court tonight and he wanted to make a good impression. Merlin noticed that Arthur's face was slightly tense but he didn't ask; if Arthur wanted to open up, he would.

There were three figures seated at the main table: Uther Pendragon, Arthur's father and King of Camelot. His body language conveyed that of boredom and impatience; the guest was probably late. Newly seated on his right hand side was Arthur, and two seats to his left was the Lady Morgana. Her hair was elaborately curled and pinned up, as was latest fashion among the ladies of the court, and she wore a deep emerald dress that brought out the colour of her eyes quite well. He compared her to Arthur, who he had seen earlier that day wearing mismatched socks. Females generally had a better eye for these things. And Morgana always looked rather lovely. Merlin guessed that the seat left empty between the King and his Ward was for the guest. Was the guest a man or a woman? He had forgotten to ask Arthur during his hour of manic cleaning.

Quiet fell over the court as a page entered the room. He read from a sheet of parchment in a high weedy voice, clearly in awe of the person he was to announce. "Announcing her Lady Sybille of Ashwen." As the last word left his lips, Lady Sybille walked in. Though murmurs ran through the crowd almost immediately, wondering who this impossibly regal looking woman was, to Merlin, it was all too clear. It wasn't too hard to recognise someone who he had only seen this morning.

She was identical to the woman who had stared up at him from beneath the lake that very morning. She _was_ the woman in the lake. He shrank even further back in his corner, stealing a glance at Morgana, who had turned bone-white with fright. She too, recognised the woman. Melusine. Morgana cast him a pleading look, and he was sure she was seconds away from bolting right out of her seat, but there was little Merlin could do without revealing his magic or risk upsetting the King. But how had she managed to become his esteemed guest?


End file.
